The Headstone
by mynextlife
Summary: A death always makes you question your priorities in life.


Pansy sighed as she watched Draco continue to drink in front of the headstone. He had been sitting there for the past two weeks, since he buried his mother in the family plot. The best that she had been able to do for him so far was get him to sleep in his own bed at night, but the days were spent drinking through the Malfoy wine cellar while sitting at his mother's grave. Sometimes he would talk to her, but mostly he cried silent tears and ran his fingers over her name.

"How is he today?" Harry had been her rock through all of this. They had been dating for about a year now and she couldn't have been happier. She was eternally thankful that he had accepted her heartfelt apology for wanting to turn him over. They began running into each other out and about and eventually Harry asked her out on a date. She was stunned but accepted and now was blissfully happy.

"He is about the same. I wish there was something I could do for him." Harry pulled her close and kissed her temple. "I think I have an idea." Harry seemed rather cryptic, but Pansy was willing to try anything at this point. She just wanted to have her dear friend back. "I trust you. I just miss him."

Draco wasn't sure how long he had been sitting, but his back side was beginning to go numb. He shifted a bit, but was not going to leave. His mother had been the only one to love him, take care of him and make sure he was always safe and now she was gone.

He glanced at the number of bottles strewn about him. He would finish one and just toss it into the pile. There looked to be about 30 or so. Briefly he thought his mother would have been disappointed, but he quickly dismissed that idea since the wine dulled his pain. The house elves would bring some other food at other times of the day, probably on order from Pansy, but he would usually take one bite and then not feel hungry any more.

Pansy had let him be for the most part, but she had insisted that he sleep in a bed. He dutifully went to bed when it became dark, but would rise with the sun and continue to sit by the grave. It was probably good that Pansy had Harry to help her since Draco was not willing to be around anyone.

If he was honest with himself, Draco was also using the alcohol to block out the pain of not having the one that he loved beside him. He had foolishly given her up because he thought his father would want him to choose someone of their circle. However, Astoria had left him when he was to be put on trial and latched onto Blaise who had somehow managed to come out of the war completely unscathed.

Draco smiled at the thought of the two of them together. He would not have been happy with Astoria, but he was willing to put up with her because he thought it was what he was supposed to do. Now with his father in Azkaban and his mother dead, he wanted to pursue his own dreams and happiness.

And thinking about his father made him even angrier about his situation. His father had been allowed to attend the funeral but he had nothing to say to Draco and didn't even look upset that his wife had died. He was escorted to the Manor by several Aurors just minutes before the service and then left without a word immediately after. The alcohol seemed to help dull that memory as well.

Draco was startled out of his alcohol induced thoughts when a bouquet of flowers was placed on the grave in front of him and someone sat down next to him. "This is a lovely place to rest. I hope that your mother has found the peace she needs." He allowed tears to fall at the sound of her voice.

Luna stretched out her legs and wiggled her bright green painted toes. She had been at the funeral, but wasn't sure if Draco had seen her. He looked so lost and unsure of how to proceed with life now that his one constant had been taken from him. She wanted desperately to hold him close and wipe all his tears away, but wasn't sure if he would let her.

She knew why he had ended it between them and allowed him to think he was making everyone happy by doing so. She had attended his trial and noticed that his father's choice of a spouse had deserted him when he would most need comfort. She had wanted to hex his father into next year for showing no emotion at his wife's funeral and ignoring Draco. Luna's heart ached as he silently watched his mother being lowered into the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Draco didn't think that Luna would really be here. He must be having a very vivid alcohol induced dream. He had said some very hurtful things to her and didn't think that she would ever want to see his face again.

"How much have you had to drink today, Draco? I think that you need something else in your system besides wine. I will not let you drink yourself into the plot next to your mother's." That got Draco's attention and he turned to face brilliant blue eyes. Luna, however, was lying on her back, eyes closed as she soaked up the sun through the tree branches. The sun caught her long blond hair and made it look like a halo around her head. _My angel_.

"It helps with the pain. Why are you here?" Luna sat up and took the bottle out of his hand, taking a drink herself, grimacing at the taste. "It must be something that you have acquired or you can no longer taste how foul it really is. Harry asked me to come over." Draco blinked as she gave him back the bottle and he absentmindedly took another drink.

"Harry has been here?" Draco didn't recall seeing him. Of course he didn't recall much of the past two weeks. It didn't surprise him since Pansy had been living with him since the end of the war. Of course he saw less of her since she started dating Harry, but he couldn't begrudge her finding happiness.

"Yes, he has been here every day helping Pansy keep an eye on you. Apparently you are pretty easy to watch since you don't do much but sit and drink. I'm impressed that Pansy gets you to sleep in a bed at night. How many nights did you sleep out here before she made you go to your room?" Draco furrowed his brow in concentration trying to remember. "I don't remember. She should just leave me and worry about her and Harry. They seem happy."

Luna picked up his hand and looked at his wrist. He had not taken off the bracelet that she had given him about a month before he broke up with her. It made her heart swell a bit. "They are happy. They want you to be happy. Are you happy? Where is Astoria?"

Draco examined the way her small fingers fit neatly between his and wondered why he let her go. It was so silly an idea to think that he would gain his father's approval for anything he did in his life. His father had taken every opportunity to let him know how great of a failure and disappointment he was and had wished for a better son.

Draco touched his mother's name on the headstone and cursed that it took her death to realize that he would never gain his father's approval for anything and that he should not worry about it anymore. His mother had loved him and was proud of what he had done. His mother had wanted him to make a name for himself and remove the tarnish that his father had let happen to the Malfoy name.

"Astoria couldn't be bothered with someone who had lost favor in the public eye. I won't be attending very many social functions and she lives for that type of thing. I don't think that I am happy. Can you fix me?" Luna rubbed the back of his hand and let a few tears slide down her cheeks. She wanted to make everything alright for him, return him to the man that she had fallen in love with, but it wasn't her job this time.

"I don't think that I can, Draco. That is up to you. I will be here by your side if you let me. I still love you very much." Draco closed his eyes and squeezed her hand. "I love you too. I'm so very sorry for hurting you." Luna finally put her arms around him and held him close as more tears fell from his eyes, silently promising to never let him go again.


End file.
